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Since 1989 Archon Architects Incorporated has practiced architecture
throughout Canada, the State of Michigan and predominantly within Southwestern Ontario.
The practice is organized as a collaborative design studio directed by the principals Robert Di Maio and Settimo Vilardi,
all licensed Architects. Each of the firm's projects are developed and executed by a core team selected to meet the particular creative
and technical challenges of the project and who are assigned to it for its entire duration. Each team is led by the principal who is
responsible for design direction and client liaison. As Archon has three licensed Architects, each job also has a collaborating design
principal who will have the knowledge to substitute for the primary project principal if required. A coordinating Project Designer
assigned to the project team is responsible for assisting the Principal with management tasks and has primary responsibility for
ensuring that key design principles are effectively transferred into the project documents and that consulting engineers are both
fully engaged with the team's work and carrying out their own tasks as required to meet project timelines. This organizational structure
enables in-depth participation by the principals in creative design and project decision making and ensures continuity of team understanding
of project objectives and detail at all stages of its conceptualization, development, and delivery. The creative discourse and lateral
thinking the studio model encourages, throughout the project, maximizes project team effectiveness and supports the firm's commitment to
innovation, design excellence, and responsiveness to client requirements.
Technology plays a key role in Archon's operations. Through a combination of traditional concept sketching and
contemporary 3-D computer generated visualization techniques, Archon has developed an efficient means to both resolve the challenges
of their client's goals while also providing rapid visualization of the proposed built object. This initial process brings to light the
varying challenges associated with the design solution and assists in making key decisions regarding aesthetic, functional and fiscal goals.
These primary decisions become represented in a succinct set of construction documents generated by the solutions previously elucidated in the
concept phase. The success of this process becomes apparent when design elements are constructed without incident. Archon's attention to
Post Construction Administration and Contract Closeout are the final crucial elements of Archon's exceptional service as we remain active
in assisting the owner in resolving all items related to the successful completion of the project.
History
Archon was established over 20 years ago, but its roots can be traced back more than 60 years. Doug Johnson,
one of the founding partners along with Robert Di Maio and Anthony Gyemi, started his original firm back in 1953 as Johnson & McWhinnie
Architects and completed many significant and exceptional pieces of Modern Architecture in Windsor, which included buildings such as the
Alicia Mason Vocational School, Nikola Budimier Memorial Library, William Hands Vocational School, Cleary International Centre and Guest
House, O.P. Hamilin Co. Showroom and Warehouse and Paulin Memorial Church. Robert Di Maio and Anthony Gyemi assumed full control of
the firm in 1993 with the retirement of Doug Johnson and continue this legacy of producing relevant, efficient, durable, contemporary and
aesthetically superior architecture for the City of Windsor and region.
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